There is a very simple boxing tool that is almost completely neglected in modern competition and training. The man called “Lill’ Arthur” was Jack Johnson, in my opinion the best heavyweight boxer of all time—including ancient times. He was best known for his “stopping” ability, which today denotes punching power, but back in his day meant his ability to “stop” an opponent’s attack almost as it began.
A stop is accomplished when you are faster and have better reaction time then your opponent, and, when you notice him beginning a motion, you stop it with a checking hand. For various reasons few fighters choose to do this at the current time, largely because it is a foul. But in boxing almost everything is a foul, and nothing is a foul until you have been caught doing it a few times and warned and then penalized. So, by all means, inflict at least one of every foul on your opponent.
As for survival and defense, there are no rules, and, ironically, those things that are foulest in sports competition are fairest and least likely to get you locked up in your private life.
The check is related to the stop and has a specific usage.
Let’s say you are fighting a strong dude who keeps his hands up, is slower than you and hits harder. He therefore likes to use the palms of his gloves to catch your punches and then punish you with counters.
Then what you do is throw a punch, and don’t, but rather catch his catching hand. When you do this his shoulder will momentarily flex. This is a reaction made by all but the most relaxed high level fighters when their guard is checked. The same thing happens with sword and shield fighting. People thing Cory and I are idiots or slobs for attacking each other’s shield as the blow has no chance of scoring. Te entire idea is to get the opponent to flex his shield shoulder, to resist the blade stroke. When he does this you redirect to a stab or slash around the momentarily immobile shield while his muscles are working in the working direction.
With boxing it is the same. As soon as you check his glove or wrist with your palm, he will momentarily resist, providing you with resistance for your push off. You then push off with your hand using your bodyweight that is still shifting forward. This further pins his arm to his body or in its guard position and will delay his reaction to the punch that you are sliding by. I like hitting with the checking hand, keeping my other hand free to deal with the hand that I have not checked.
Play with this, especially with heavyweights. Do not try it against a faster alert opponent that knows what you are doing. Against fast slicksters this is something you only get away with once in a fight.
My favorite application against a fighter with both his hands high to catch punches and counter is to step in behind a jab that I do not let go—a feint.
I then come forward with a lead right hand, which does not deliver to the head, or fall into his waiting hand, but diverts to cuff his glove.
As his shoulder flexes to resist, you keep your weight shifting forward behind the right hand and pull it back just enough to let it slide between his hands and catch him in the center line with a vertical punch.
This is only a half power punch at best, a rear hand jab really, so you now step off right and post a vertical jab up between his glove as you defend his lead counter with your right and prepare to roll out away from his right.
During the course of this you have shifted your weight forward with one step and rear foot push, and then shifted your weight back across your body to the right as you step and drag into a half pivot with the lead foot.
Now, if this dude is some sizzling fighter coming back to rip your head off the rightward shift into a posted jab can turn into a step and slide or fade, which is kind of like a boxing version off the martial arts cat stance.
Play with this in sparring. It is sometimes called “mugging’ by old time guys.
Is this in any way related to the indexing you discussed earlier ie red suit pimp video Or are these totally different things. Do you have a video example.
Yes. It is the same principal but using the same hand.
This is done with the same hand, touch him lightly with it then put half your weight in. This is not a finisher usually and is used against a stronger guy who knows what he is doing but is slower. I wrote this after watching Craig stalk Sean around the wring looking to counter after catching punches. This was causing Sean penetration problems, and I offered this as a solution for the lighter quicker guy.
For a quick finish, especially outside the ring against the witless, you are better off just touching with the left and cracking with the right like the pimp did with the drunk.